So what do we know?

In addition to being an eloquent communicator of big ideas, he is also a super-genius academic, a computer science professor at Georgetown University who also finds time to write his extremely popular Study Hacks blog and churn out books and academic papers.

He is clearly brilliant. But he’s also amazingly prolific — and it’s all because of how he uses his time.

He detests social media, and he argues that it is eroding our ability to think clearly. Here’s an excellent TED Talk he delivered on the topic:

I agree with Newport that social media hurts our ability to think deeply, and I also add that it is destroying our emotional health.

I have worked with youth and families in the mental health field, and it is increasingly clear that it is difficult to develop a healthy sense of self if you are fixated on what you see on social media.

Surprisingly, Facebook just released a cleverly worded statement that hints that its own product is bad for your mental health.

Then, what do we do about it?

If we are starting to realize just how bad all of this is for our mental health, what can we do about it? How do we transcend our need for the temporary high that we get from checking our favorite apps?

As introduced above, Cal Newport provides copious amounts of advice for how to break the habit, but if, at the moment, you don’t feel like digesting 250+ pages of his research and advice in his book Deep Work, then this is what I do.

It may not work for you, but at least it will give you some food for thought.

1. I do my best to live a disciplined life. I believe the more disciplined you are, the greater freedom you have to pursue your dreams.

If you know where your time is going, then you learn how to wisely maximize your time to do more activities that bring you joy.

With this in mind, I try to put limits on how I use social media, if only because I know I have the very human tendency to seek the dopamine rush of status updates, likes, comments, and retweets. I try to check social media at designated times, say once in the morning and once in the evening.

2. For the apps that I use, I ask myself questions: What is the purpose of my using this app? What am I getting out of this? How does this help me meet my goals? Does it align with my core values?

If I can’t come up with any good answers, I discard the app.

3. If I know something really doesn’t bring me a lot of joy (Like Facebook) but I want to hold on to the app to stay in touch with some friends, I move the app somewhere on my phone where I won’t be compelled to check it.

By the way, Newport would argue that I’m adhering to the any-benefit mindset, which, according to him, is a really dumb way to make decisions. To that I exclaim, “I’m only human, Cal! I’m not willing to ditch all social media just yet.”

To limit my Facebook use, I don’t keep the app on my home screen anymore, so each time I think to use it, I have to go searching through my phone to find it and open it. This simple change has drastically cut down on the amount of time I spend on Facebook. I will typically check Facebook once or twice a day now.

4. I try to break the cycle of an uncomfortable feeling leading to an automatic behavior by following my breathing. I meditate on a regular basis now, and I have noticed that, as my meditation skill increases, so does my ability to catch the desire to escape something. By focusing on my breath when an uncomfortable feeling arises, I come to understand what I’m actually feeling — and I avoid turning to a mindless activity to cover up the feeling.

Because it is covering up the feeling.

When you go to check your phone to escape a feeling, you don’t get rid of the feeling. You just squash it for the time being.

Underneath the mindless pursuit to not feel is the feeling that drove your behavior in the first place. Pushing away a feeling only makes it grow over time.

It’s only when you acknowledge your difficult feelings and move towards accepting them that you can get past the feelings and move on with your life.

And past the whizzing screens of switching apps and social media are the real-life scenes that are zooming by without your knowledge.

It is tantalizing to check social media all the time. Like I said, I am still guilty of it from time to time. But I’m working to get better.

I’m painting this in dramatic terms because it is dramatic. This isn’t how the world used to be. We used toacknowledge each other in public places — on school buses, in stores, and on the sidewalk.

Now we bump into each other accidentally, look up in surprise at the human being in front of us, and then look back down at our phones.

Is this is symptomatic of a societal disease or just the reality of a hyperconnected and quickly changing world?

All I know is that I tend to feel better when I put down the phone and walk away.